In May 1904, Kenneth and Elsie Grahame were late to a dinner party because, according to a maid, Kenneth was “up in the night-nursery telling Master Mouse some ditty or another about a Toad.” Master Mouse was the family name for the Grahames’ only child, Alastair, and the story that his father concocted that night was destined to become a children’s classic.

Appeared in the February 8, 2019, print edition as 'River Bank and Wild Wood.'